Oh to be back in 2013 again. The Chicago Blackhawks were Stanley Cup champions (again) and every one of our fans fell asleep dreaming of the famed 17 seconds. We were on top of the world. On the management side of things though, it wasn’t so rosy of a picture. Chicago had just won the Stanley Cup, and that was great, but almost all the players wanted a raise. A big one, if at all possible, and if the franchise wouldn’t give them one, you could be sure another franchise would. And the nasty salary cap meant we really couldn’t just give everybody a massive raise. So some often painful trades had to be done. Among the more well-known of leavers were David Bolland, scorer of the championship winning goal against Boston in Game 6 (left for the Maple Leafs in return for 3 draft picks, 2nd and 4th ones in 2013 and a 4th round pick in 2014), Viktor Stalberg, most notable for having a kickass name, but was also a solid performer for Chicago over a couple of years (left as a free agent, was signed by Nashville) and Michael Frolik, king of the shorthanded plays (left to Winnipeg for 3rd and 5th round picks in the 2013 draft). And that really is just scratching the surface. A lot of players left, and this put far more strain on the up and coming talent of Chicago, such as Jeremy Morin and Ben Smith. They would hold up remarkably well, but the preseason was a fearful time for many fans.

Behind this the draft ended up being a bit hidden from view for Chicago fans, especially considering we would only have the 30th pick in the first round. However, a few excellent prospects were picked up, with our first pick Ryan Hartman (currently with the Plymouth Whalers) looking like he might turn into a good player. Carl Dahlstrom is also an exciting prospect for the future.

So after all the drafting and trading had finished, what were Hawks fans thoughts for the new season? Well all in all we were quite hopeful. Despite some serious cuts into our roster, our main core was still there, and with players such as Toews, Kane and Hossa still around as Hawks, we felt we would still be a major threat. Also, we had Corey Motherfucking Crawford backing us up, so we knew we had a decent goaltender, at least in the playoffs. Hawks fans were, in the preseason at least, quietly hopeful we could be the first team of the salary cap era to win back to back cups. And while most of us realised that was mainly just a pipe dream, almost all of us thought we could at least go far in the playoffs, so long as our core stayed intact.

It was pretty clear from the start that this would not be the same dominant Chicago side of last season. There was no repeat of the 24 games without a regulation defeat at the start of the season. In fact, it took only 3 games for that dream to die, as St. Louis inflicted our first regulation defeat of the season in that game. From the very offset, Chicago did not look particularly like running away with the President’s Trophy, although up until the end of 2013 we were serious challengers for it. A 28-7-7 record over the length of 2013 was enough to keep Chicago high up in the deadly Central Division and contending for the President’s Trophy for a second season in a row. It helped that our record at the UC was incredible (only 2 regulation defeats by the end of December) and that Nikolai Khabibulin got injured as quickly as possible so our back-up for Crawford was the half man, half machine known as Antti Raanta. His performances meant that Corey’s injury in December hurt us far less than anyone expected.

However, over the New Year the players clearly partied a bit too hard, and subsequently suffered a 4 month or so hangover from which they never truly recovered. A 5-3-6 record in January signalled the beginning of the end for Chicago’s President’s Trophy challenge, and it never really got going again; Chicago didn’t register a positive win loss ratio in any month until April at the very end of the season. Injuries to Kane and Toews nearer the end of the season did nothing to aid the cause, and despite a few rousing wins, the Hawks were abysmal for their standard. This poor run meant we fell considerably behind the frontrunners of the league, eventually finishing 7th overall, 10 points behind the President’s Trophy winners Boston and behind Anaheim, Colorado, St. Louis, San Jose and Pittsburgh as well. Despite this though, Chicago finished comfortably in the playoff positions, and readied up for their series against bitter rivals St. Louis.

The playoffs started out as a nightmare for Chicago. Two games in St. Louis, and two OT defeats, the second coming with the added salt of Seabrook being banned for three games (fairly, but still a blow). However, Chicago benefited from St. Louis being incapable of not choking, and won 4 in a row to progress, including the 5-1 demolition job at the UC in Game 6.

After that, Chicago faced off against the Wild, in a repeat of last year’s first round matchup. The series started off well enough for Chicago, winning two on the bounce, only to collapse to Minnesota’s fortress at home. Chicago retook the lead in the series however to the tune of Chelsea Dagger at the UC, and finally broke the Wild’s resistance at home with a 2-1 away win to progress.

Chicago then met up with their old friend Los Angeles. A win in game one gave Hawks fans hope, just to see it all disappear with three defeats on the bounce. Chicago rose again to tie the series at 3, but just couldn’t finish off the revival and bowed out in OT to the Kings in Game 7.

Last Season - Overview

So here we are again, in another preseason. Chicago are still contenders, and still have arguably the most dangerous core in the league built around the likes of Kane and Toews. But I for one feel a sense of unease over the upcoming seasons. Chicago were not the same team last season. They were still good, no doubt, but they did not play with the same fire as they did in 2012/13. This was most noticeable in the playoffs, where we escaped with wins that we made look far more comfortable than they really were. Every game we played was a big challenge, and had Crawford not been the clutch playoff guy that he is, we could easily have bowed out far earlier than we did in the playoffs. So there remains cause for optimism and pessimism. Last season was an undeniably good season; it can be nothing else when you get to the Western Conference Finals and take the eventual Stanley Cup winners to 7 games and OT. But it is not as good as the performances of 2012/13. I for one hope that the fire of that time is discovered next season again.

But there are bigger worries than that. Chicago is once again stuck just under the salary cap, but has to give people raises. That means we are going to lose players again, and it is questionable whether we can replace them with players of a similar standard. Once again, we performed reasonably in the draft, or at least it appears that we did right now, with good prospects such as Nick Schmaltz and Beau Starrett bolstering our pool of centres, and signing Brad Richards to fix our second line center problem was vital, and impressive considering our salary cap issue. But losing Kevin Hayes was a blow, and it's people like that who we will struggle to replace while staying under the cap.

So Chicago still have their core, and that is vitally important. However, the edges are starting to fray now, and this is a big problem for us. Hopefully, the rest of this preseason and the early parts of next season will show us recovered and strong, but there is a worry right now that the team that turns up next season will not be as good as the one that started last season. And if that is the case, then it's difficult to see the Hawks ever reaching the level of 2010 and 2013 for quite some time.

The 1934 Stanley Cup win. It was the Hawks first Stanley Cup, and it came against the Detroit Red Wings, to make it all the sweeter. Incidentally, on the road to the final, Chicago defeated two teams from Montreal.

Defeating the Canadiens, 1961. Montreal are hardly our rivals now, but back in the late 50s/early 60s we were bitter enemies. Defeats in the ’59 and ’60 playoffs to Montreal had left us bitter, and the same result was expected when the two sides met again in ’61. However, the Hawks deployed a gritty, defensive strategy to break down Montreal’s free flowing game, and the Hawks, led by Bobby Hull and Stan Mitika, defeated them in 6. The Hawks would go on to win the cup as well, beating Detroit in the final.

1991/92 final appearance. This season did not end with a cup, unfortunately, but it was a season where Roenick, Chelios and Belfour helped to light up Chicago in a way that hadn’t been seen since the Bobby Hull era. The team tore through the playoffs before falling in 4 to a Lemieux led Pittsburgh in the final. It was not as easy as it looks for Pittsburgh, who were lucky to manage to win all 4 games, but the cup was theirs, despite a fantastic season for Chicago.

The Death of Dollar Bill. Maybe a bit morbid, but the death of Bill Wirtz was ironically a life saver for the Blackhawks franchise. Down, out and pathetic for so long, the new owner Rocky Wirtz started from scratch and built the team we know today. It changed everything for the Hawks, and led to my final highlight.

The 2010 Stanley Cup win. A bit recent, but this victory was a piece of history. The Hawks hadn’t held the cup since 1961. It was beginning to reach Toronto levels of failure. Until finally, after a long, gruelling season, the Hawks pulled through and beat the Flyers in 6 to win it and start the party. And since then, we haven’t looked back.

Rivals

I did a second poll on the subreddit to decide our top 5 hated teams, so in ascending order, here are the Blackhawks rivals:

Boston Bruins – There is a simple reason why we don’t like Boston, and that is ‘who the fuck likes Boston?’ Their style of play gets under everyone’s skin, and so they came 5th in the poll, I am assuming because we ran out of actual rivals. Oh, and also we beat them in the Stanley Cup finals a couple years back cough 17 seconds cough.

Vancouver Canucks – I was quite surprised Vancouver made 4th in this poll, as I assumed that they’re recent aptitude for being very very bad might have softened this rivalry a bit. However, apparently the bad blood that comes from meeting up in the playoffs 3 times in a row (2-1) has yet to pass away.

Los Angeles Kings – LA are starting to become the new Vancouver. Two meet-ups in the WCF split one a piece has spawned a new rivalry. The rivalry has been spurred on by the fact that the two teams are basically carbon copies of each other, each trying to secure their star players and keep up and coming talent within the squad. And with neither side looking like they might grind to a halt a la Vancouver any time soon, this rivalry looks set to keep growing.

Detroit Red Wings – It’s one of the oldest rivalries in hockey. Chicago vs Detroit, Blackhawks vs Red Wings. They may have hopped off to the East, but our two games a season are marked on the calendar for fans of both teams. The games were split 1-1 last season, but both teams will be hungry to sweep the other and hold the bragging rights this season.

Chicago break their own record of two seasons ago and go 30 games unbeaten in regulation at the start of the season. Despite worries about the salary cap, the Hawks stay under it by making some amazing trades and deals. Morin is finally set free and proceeds to tear up defences as Sharpie’s early replacement, should we ever need it. Chicago walk to the President’s trophy, winning by a 10 point margin, and advance through the playoffs, sweeping the Blues and the Kings on the way. In the final the Hawks come up against the breakout team of the season Detroit. After 6 games the series is tied at 3, and game 7 goes to overtime. One period ends. Then another. Then another. Finally, in 4OT, Jonathan Toews breaks away and slams the puck through Jimmy Howard’s five hole to claim another Stanley Cup, only this time on home ice. The Hawks are Stanley Cup champions again.

Why Chicago Will Not Win the Stanley Cup Next Season

Chicago panic and sell off players to stay under the salary cap. Big names leave, and their replacements are complete disappointments. Kane goes on a night out and gets arrested, and Toews refuses to play until his friend is released. Crawford and Raanta get injured, and we somehow end up with Khabibulin in net, despite the fact that he left last season. Bill Wirtz rises from the dead and reclaims ownership of the team. He proceeds to charge $200 per ticket for regular season games and cut off all television rights. Chicago finish bottom of the West and St Louis go on to win the Stanley Cup, beating Detroit in 6 games.

Hmm… I might have gone a bit over the top with those. Anyway, thanks for reading, and roll on next season!

(Final thing, massive thanks to /u/golf4miami for being willing to post this if my wi-fi in France (where I am currently on holiday) didn't hold up. I'm glad I didn't need you in the end, but you saved me a lot of worry)

He’s arguably the greatest captain in the league, and he continued to prove that last season. He led the team to the conference finals and did it in style.

Toews, however, is not just a leader. His overall tally of goals was his most since the first cup win, and these goals were invaluable to us all season.

Some of his goals also came at crucial times. The OT winner in St. Louis in Game 5 was executed brilliantly on the breakaway and swung the series fully in our favour. He also snatched the game winner against Minnesota in Game 6 to send us to the conference final. He can be a clutch player, and that was very important once more this season.

Toews also shone once more through his many assists. He proved again that he can make goals as well as he can put them away, and this talent is vital to the team as a whole.

Finally, he started to score regularly again in the playoffs. After three playoff campaigns of failing to score more than 3 goals in any one campaign, Toews bounced back with a career high 9 goals in the playoffs. This was crucial to getting us as far as we did.

2. PATRICK KANE

Stat

This Season

Last Season

Career High

Points

89

72

116

Goals

37

32

40

Assists

54

42

76

+/-

12

18

44

PIM

30

16

64

ATOI

20:30

20:30

20:56

Contributions:

Patrick Kane has to be the most clutch player alive. And he was exactly that at crucial times this season, scoring in vital games again and again, most notably against Los Angeles in the Conference Final, even if that was ultimately in vain.

Kane continued this season to be involved in both making and putting away goals, and his ability at that was huge again this season. We wouldn’t have got as far as we did without him.

Kane also continued to ‘grow up’. It sounds stupid, but it has been vital to the team that he has stopped acting like the child he once was and started behaving as he should. A player has act well both on the ice and off it.

Kane registered more goals in the regular season this year than he had since 2009/10 season. His goals were certainly useful in getting us to the playoffs.

Finally, Kane was also vital in the playoffs, getting more points and assists, as well as only one less goal, than the cup winning playoff run two seasons ago. His ability to turn it up in the playoffs was massive for us.

3. PATRICK SHARP

Stat

This Season

Last Season

Career High

Points

88

36

88

Goals

39

16

39

Assists

49

20

52

+/-

11

9

34

PIM

46

22

74

ATOI

18:44

18:33

20:06

Contributions:

It was hard picking between Sharp and Hossa, but I chose Sharp because of how important he was in the regular season. He scored the most goals and got the most points out of the entire team in the regular season, and this was crucial in getting us to the playoffs so comfortably.

Another thing about Sharp is how he is performing continually brilliantly despite his age. Sharp has been in the NHL for 11 seasons now; he is 32 years old. Most players by this point are starting to decline, but Sharp put up career high numbers this season, showing he is better than ever.

Despite the fact that last season he was known better for his goals, Sharp put up big numbers on assists too. Only Duncan Keith got more assists than him in the regular season.

Sharp scored or created a grand total of 78 goals last regular season. That alone is enough to merit him being on this list.

Finally, despite being snakebitten for a significant part of the playoffs, Sharp still put up decent numbers in it; 5 goals and 5 assists. So he was by no means a player only for the regular season.

4. DUNCAN KEITH

Stat

This Season

Last Season

Career High

Points

72

40

86

Goals

10

5

16

Assists

62

35

70

+/-

29

26

34

PIM

36

49

79

ATOI

26:14

26:16

28:35

Contributions:

It was also difficult to choose Keith for this list, as both he and Seabrook were vitally important to our cause all season long. However, the main reason I chose Keith was his ridiculous amount of assists in the regular season; 55 assists was 11 more than his closest competitor.

I also feel Keith outshone Seabrook defensively. Seabrook was not at his best this season, and made some crucial mistakes (the hit on Backes, for example). Keith, on the other hand, was more or less constantly reliable, and so it is he who is on the list.

Much like Kane, Keith also deserves credit for not drawing too much negative attention from the media. In the past, Keith has been accused of being sexist, but there was none of that this season, which was a nice change.

Keith was also vital for his huge average time on ice. It has been higher in the past, but Keith (especially in the playoffs) is on the ice a huge amount of time, and he appears almost tireless.

Finally, Keith is gritty, and that is important to the team. Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp; they light the ice up with pretty plays. But Keith is behind them doing the dirty work, and he deserves praise for doing that job, however unsavoury it is.

5. COREY (MOTHERFUCKING) CRAWFORD

Stat

This Season

Last Season

Career High

W/L

43/24

35/12

35/12

GA

180

103

103 (shortened season)

SV

1943

1340

1943

SV%

0.915%

0.929%

0.929%

Contributions:

Crawford was again fantastic this season. He isn’t an elite, really; I think any Chicago fan would accept that the likes of Rask and Quick are better. But he is a fine goaltender with a high save percentage, and Chicago are happy to have him.

The main reason Crawford is up here though is his strange ability to turn into a superhuman in the playoffs. Crawford on occasion single-handedly won matches, and was as important as anyone in getting the Hawks to the Conference Final.

Crawford also deserves credit for bouncing back from injury in the middle of the season. He was out for some time, and while Antti Raanta (who I admit, I was sorely tempted to put on this list) did a fine job covering for him, Crawford came back from injury and almost immediately returned to his expected standard.

Crawford also played a huge amount of games this season. Despite his injury, Crawford was among the top 10 for most games played in the regular season.

Finally, Crawford’s play when under pressure could match any goaltender out there. He never cracks, and without him, Chicago would be in deep trouble.

Fan Voted Player Awards

Thanks to everyone over in /r/hawks who participated in the poll, almost 100 of you joined in, which was way more than I expected. Also special mention should go to /u/bandit515 for coming up with the names for the awards. So without further ado, the awards:

The Ice King – This award is for the best player on the team overall. The winner is – JONATHAN TOEWS (of course)

The 80s Montage Award – This is for the player judged to have improved most over the last season. The winner is – BRANDON SAAD

The Rook Who Shook the World – This goes to the best rookie from last season. The winner is – ANTTI RAANTA

The Phil-ice-thropist – This is given to the player adjudged to be the friendliest and best off the ice. The winner is – JONATHAN TOEWS

And finally:

The "You Know I really like that Patrick Kane Fella"- The winner of this award is the fan favourite, the most loved player. And the winner is – (sigh) PATRICK KANE

Highlights of Last Season

Raising the banner Obvious highlight really, and we followed it up with a 6-4 win over Washington, which was nice.

I get your point, but I wanted to put Crow in because he carried us through the playoffs almost single-handedly at times. It was a tough choice then between Sharpie and Hoss, but Sharp had such good stats this year I felt I had to go for him. Don't get me wrong, I love Hossa, and if it was top 6 performers he'd have definitely been there, but it's only top 5, unfortunately.

True. But he was still a back-up that we're struggling to replace, and so we're missing the back-up. He's obviously far from our best player, and to be fair I could have thought of a better example if I hadn't been really busy over the last few days, but I think the point still stands. We're missing him because we can't replace him.

I disagree. He didn't know how to use his size and had cinder blocks for hands. He was waste of a spot in the bench every time he dressed. Mashinter could easy replace him if all we need is a big body to sit on the bench. It's what Bollig did.

Sure but you're using it as justification for your hypothesis in the next paragraph.

So Chicago still have their core, and that is vitally important. However, the edges are starting to fray now, and this is a big problem for us. Hopefully, the rest of this preseason and the early parts of next season will show us recovered and strong, but there is a worry right now that the team that turns up next season will not be as good as the one that started last season. And if that is the case, then it's difficult to see the Hawks ever reaching the level of 2010 and 2013 for quite some time.

I don't think anyone thinks we've gotten weaker because we lost Jimmy Hayes. Or Handzus or Bollig for that matter. And when we send Versteeg or Rozsival away they won't think that either. By signing Richards we've added a Conn Smythe winning center and a heart and soul guy to center Kane. Finally a legit 2C. We have made room for our blue chip prospects. That's trimming the fat not fraying at the edge until we come apart. And to say that we can never be contenders again is completely ridiculous. Especially considering the depth of our prospect pool and the will of our core.

I'm sorry if that sounded brusk but this sky is falling mantra some Hawks fans have adopted is getting old.

As I said in response to /u/discodemolition, I was being retarded, I meant Kevin Hayes, not Jimmy. You're right, losing Jimmy isn't a loss really, I was just being dumb. However not snatching up Kevin is.

And I wasn't saying we won't be contenders. I'm saying we might not be as good as we were in 2013 or 2010. Different things.

Finally, remember I wrote most of this a few weeks back now, and things have changed a bit since. Some of it might be a bit out of date, this being one example; at the time of writing I was worried that we might start to lose players and fall away a little. Developments since then have shown that things are looking up, like you say, and if I'd had more time recently I may have edited that. But I've been in France on holiday this past week and that's meant I've been pretty damn busy.

Even so, the salary cap is always a worry for the Hawks, and sooner or later we might start losing key players. It's why I wrote that bit in the first place and it's why I still stand by my fear that the team that turns up next season may not be of the same caliber as before. It's only a fear. I'm hopeful that we'll be as strong if not stronger next season. But that won't stop me worrying.

Yeah but Kevin hasn't played ONE game for the Hawks or anyone else for that matter. And wouldn't have this season either. So how is that a loss from last season? How does something that never even had the chance to see what would happen with be seen as getting weaker now that he's not here? He was never a factor.

Could have been a nice 2c option (Think Zeus but with legs and less defensive IQ) if we can't sign Richards long term. But he'd have to compete with Teuvo, Shaw, Nordstrom, Smith, Danault, Kruger, Schmaltz, McNeil, Leblanc, and that college kid who helped Teuvo light up the prospect camp. Even if he slots in as the second best player on that list, there is at least a year of work before earning a Roster spot in Chicago if not more.

Then I'll say it again, each to their own opinion. I agree with you that I don't think the Hawks will turn up next season and not contend. I think that's ridiculous. I'm only saying I'm worried that we might start to fray at the edges, that we might start to slip a little. I don't think we will, I think our management will hold us steady, but I'm still scared that we might.

I know, I've been on holiday three times, which is actually how I started supporting the Hawks (but that's another story). Never got to watch a game live though, so I have two reasons to get there; firstly because it's an awesome city, and secondly because I want to be able to watch at least one Hawks game in my lifetime.

Really enjoyed reading this one. Your fanbase and my fanbase have gotten pretty spoiled in that anything short of a deep playoff run can be seen as a failure. It'd say securing a spot in the SCF, but given that we'd likely meet each other (or a team good enough to eliminate us) it'd be a tough road just getting there.

Also, I'm pretty shocked that the Kings are considered pretty big rivals. Seriously, only beaten out by your rivalries against the Wings and the Blues; it's almost like an honor haha.

Hope we get to see another Kings Hawks series; it was a ton of fun to watch last season.